Bill Kostroun/Associated PressRyan Anderson did a fine job defending Milwaukee's Charlie Villanueva Tuesday, but that was only the beginning of the Net rookie's hectic week.

WASHINGTON -- His first task was Charlie Villanueva, who was averaging 23 points in his eight previous games.

Wednesday night he matched up with Antawn Jamison, more or less a 20-and-10 guy, who is putting up better numbers than he did during his All-Star season.

And then on Saturday, he'll get the honor of checking Kenyon Martin, who, if he's over his strep throat, will probably be in search-and-destroy mode.

That's the work week for Ryan Anderson, rookie without a safety net.

The Nets power forward is not just a starter now, or the new guy just trying to make good, or someone who needs to impress the coaches for the sake of getting playing time.

He's a 20-year-old without a backup -- Eduardo Najera is out until at least the All-Star break, Stromile Swift still hasn't returned, and Yi Jianlian remains in the trainer's room until further notice -- so his new job description basically reads like this:

Produce, or else.

"I definitely need to expect to be on the court more and step up my defense, really," Anderson said. "I need to elevate my game -- we have limited bigs, so I have to hold my own against guys like Jamison, because you can't put somebody small on him. So I have to prepare, and prepare myself really well."

Entering his matchup with Jamison and the Wizards Wednesday, Anderson had some hits and misses in his 11-game stint as a starter. He averaged only 7.5 points (.370 shooting) and 5.9 boards in 22.7 minutes, but there have been some resounding successes.

One was the season-high, 39-minute stint Tuesday night against Villanueva, whom Anderson held to 5-for-15 shooting and outscored 19-11. Most important, the rookie showed his versatility, giving Milwaukee the full treatment -- not only hitting three shots from downtown, but mucking it up for five offensive rebounds.

It was the latest sign that this could be a unique commodity: Anderson doesn't treat the four-spot as a finesse position, as some young players might; but when he has to flaunt his floor skills, which he did in the third quarter, he's not afraid to be the game-breaker.

"That's something that's different about me, I guess," Anderson said. "I still have to work on the strength aspect -- but I'm still going to play the same way. People think of me as a shooter, but they haven't really watched me. I'm a different kind of player."

Having said all that, every last coach and teammate are mostly impressed with improvements the 6-10, 240-pounder has made defensively.

"He took his bruises early, to get over the jitters to just play basketball," Keyon Dooling said. "Now the shot is starting to fall again for him. And defensively, he's been great."

"He's getting there, he's making strides," Lawrence Frank said. "It's not for a lack of effort. I think it's just at times, maybe the games (are) a count quicker. So just the recognition. He knows what he's supposed to do, but at times it's a little bit (too) quick. But he's making progress."

Does he have any choice?

Especially now, when the only big body in reserve is Sean Williams?

"With any player, there's always a great luxury when you know you're going to play significant minutes," Frank said. "I think it allows you to relax a great deal.

"But that argument doesn't always hold, because then every starter would be great. But I think there is something to be said when you know you are going to play X amount of minutes -- you're allowed to play through mistakes, you don't press much, especially as a young player."

Indeed, in recent weeks, Frank would yank Anderson from the game after one cycle of the rotation, and the rookie wouldn't see the court again.

Times, and circumstances, have changed: He was allowed to play 24 minutes at Philly (even though he shot 1-for-9), and he played 33 minutes in Atlanta, where he was one of Frank's most efficient players (17 points on six shots).

"The challenge is, 'Okay, you did it last night, what are you going to do tonight?'" Frank said. "And it may not be numerical, but you felt his energy, in terms of offensive rebounding, running the floor. Ryan or anyone else (shouldn't) base his impact on making shots, because you've got to find other ways."